Subaqueous rook breaker



4 Sheets-Shet 1.

' (No Model.)

P. S. ROSS. SUBAQUEOUS ROCK BREAKER.

Patented Apr. 3, 1894."

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P. S. ROSS. SUBAQUEOUS ROCK BREAKER.

No. 517,556. Patented Apr. 3, 1894.

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(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 3.

P. S. ROSS.

SUBAQUEOUS ROCK BREAKER. No. 517,556. Patented Apr. 3, 1894.

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(N0Model.) v P. S. ROSS.

'YSUBAQUEOUS ROGK BREAKER.

' Patented Apr. 3, 1 894.

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NITED (STATES PATENT O FICE.

PETER SANFORD Ross, E NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

SUBAQUEOUS ROCK-BREAKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 517,556, dat AP 3,1894.

Application filed November 2, 1898. Serial No. 489,806. (No model.) v

' To aZZ whom it may concern.- l

Be it known that I, PETER SANFORD ROSS, a citizen of theUnited States,and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Subaqueous RockBreakers, of which the following, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction and arrangement of mechanismdesigned to assist in the removal of rock lying beneath the surface of abody of water.

The object of the invention is to break or disintegrate the rock so thatit may be easily removed by an ordinary dredger, and the inventionconsists of the various features of construction and arrangementhereinafter set forth.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters denote correspondingparts in all the views, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a boat providedwith the various features employed in carrying out the object of .theinvention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a derrick, partly broken away,which is carried by the boat. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the boat auditsmechanism. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the boat in diagram, showing thearcs of circles through which the boat moves when at work. Fig. 5 is aplan view of a drum shaft carried by the boat. Fig. 6 is a plan view ofa pair of friction clutch I winding drums carried by the boat. Fig. 7 isa side elevation of a rock breaking chisel partly broken away and insection on the line 11 Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is'a side elevation of the chisellooking at right angles to the view shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is atransverse section of the chisel on the line scow, I mount at the bow aderrick B having one or more perpendicular ways a, overhangin g the bow.In these ways are heavy pounding weights or iron chisels or rams Cwei'ghing several tons and arranged to be hoisted to the top of the waysby a suitable motor and then dropped. The force of the blow from thechisels upon the rockdisintegrates it so that it can afterward beremoved by a dredger.

My arrangement for operating a chiseland connecting it to the motor, ispeculiar, and enables me to work it with a considerable economy of time,besides reducing the wear on the parts to a minimum.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, it will be seen that the upper end of thechisel O is provided with a slot b extending longitudinally a shortdistance into the head of the chisel, and that a bore 0 runstransversely through the slot. A bolt (1 passes through this borethreading a thimble e in the slot and engaging a link f, the lower endof which also extends into the slot. The head and nut of the bolt restin counter-sunk polygonal recesses and are sealed therein by solder orother suitable means. Across the top of the chisel. and extendingthrough the link f near its upper end, is a cushion or bolster g,preferably of wood, and resting upon the bolster and engaging the upperend of the linkfso as to fit snugly in place, is a link-ring h. A cableD,preferably of wire, is permanently fastened to the link-ring, and,extending over a pulley mounted in the top of the derrick, is fastenedat its other end to a winding drum E driven by the motor F. The cuttingend of the chisel is sharpened, and extending from this end up somelittle distance is a strip of steel 0 embedded and welded into the massof the chisel. If the chisel is given a wedge-shaped end as shown, thestrip of steel will be flat and extend laterally through the chisel andbe centrally located. This feature provides the chisel with a harddurable cutting edge, as

iron, being softer than steel, will wear away faster, and thus the sharpwedge-shape of the cutting end is preserved. If it is desired to givethe cutting end a conical point, acylindrical steel strip can be weldedin the chisel along its axial line.

I have shown and sometimes prefer to employ two chisels at the sametime, each having its own operating cable D and drum E. These drums arepreferably of the friction clutch type and are so arranged that whilethe cable on one is being wound to hoist its chisel, the other drum isfree to turn to let its cable run freely out while the other chisel w reis dropping. The friction clutches for the drums are shown at E, Fig. 6,and each can be operated independently of the other, by hand orotherwise. The friction clutch which enables me to instantly engage anddisengage the drum, and the permanent connection of the cable and itschisel, which makes it possible to hoist the chisel the moment after ithas struck the rock, enable me to save considerable time in operatingthe chisel, and the cushion form of connection between the cable and thehead of the chisel being snug and free from play, prevents a greatamount of wear which would be otherwise occasioned by the impact of thevarious elements of the connection at the head of the chisel when thechisel strikes the rock. Moreover, there being no projecting ends orcorners in the connection, the slack of the cable due to the suddenstopping of the chisel is prevented from being out or ruptured. Nearlyall of the wear at the connection is upon the wooden bolster, and whenit is worn out a new bolster can be easily driven in.

Across the boat near the stern a shaft G is mounted in suitablebearings. Upon theshaf t are mounted the independently rotatable drums HH, and J J, and the anchor chainwheel K each of which is provided withan independent clutch adapted to lock it to the shaft. Suitably mountedon the shaft and rigidly connected therewith is a gear wheel K suitablygeared with motor K. Upon the stern of the boat and projecting therefromis a crib-like frame L adapted to firmly sup port two spud wells M M.These spudwells are tubular and preferably cylindrical, and made of ironas shown in Fig. 10. They are arranged in a line running transverse theboat, and preferably in a line running at right angles to a longitudinalline running through the center of the boat, each well beinglocated atan equal distance from this longitudinal line. Each is provided with al0ngitudinal gutter m on the side nearest the boat, and a pulley inlocated near the upper end of the well the periphery of which projectsinto the gutter through an aperture m in the side of the Well. Thesespud-wells carry the spuds N, N, each of which comprises a long ironbody portion tubular throughout its length as shown in the drawings,which is provided with an iron shoe N carrying an eye-bolt n. The bodyportion of the spud extends up through its spud-well preferably to somelittle distance above the deck of the boat. The upper end of the shoe,which conforms to the shape of the abutting end of the long tubular bodyportion of the spud, projects inside. the spud so that the latter,overlaps the shoe and rests securely upon a circumferential shoulder nof the shoe. To the eye-bolts'n. are attached chains or cables 0 OWhichpass up through thewells, along the guttersand over the pulleys mto the drums J and J. To the drums H and H are at tached the cables P, Pwhich pass over the pulleys 19,19 near the bow of the boat, and aresecured to anchors Q, thrown out to some distance on each side of theboat.

The operation is as follows: The boat is moved to the desired position,and the anchors Q, Q are fixed in place as shown in full lines in Fig.4. The spud N is then lowered into the bed of the water, the cable P ispaid out and the cable P is hauled in by operating the drums H, 1-1.This draws the boat into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4and marked 1. The spud N is then hauled up and the spud N dropped intoposition N', and the boat is now ready to begin the operation ofbreaking rock. One of the chisels O is then hoisted to the top of thederrick and the drum released, permitting the chisel to fall with greatforce upon the rock. While this chisel is failing, the other chisel isbeing hoisted to the top of the derrick, and when the first chisel isbeing again hoisted, the second one is dropping. Thus the two chisels,by a proper manipulation of their hoisting drums, can be alternatelydropped and hoisted. While the chisels. are at work, the cable P isgradually. paid out and the cable P is gradually hauled in, therebyswinging the boat in the are 1 of a circle of which the spud N is thecenter, so that the rock is cut or broken along this arc. When the boathas reached the position marked 2 the chisels are stopped, the spud N isdrawn up and the spud N is let down, occupying the position marked N.The boat is then swung again to the left toward the positionl on the are2, and the spud N is drawn up and the spud N let down. The chisels arenow set to work a second time and the boat is gradually swung to theright along the are 3, the spud N being the center but occupying. theposition N, and the chisels working all the while. When the boat hasreached its limit of move ment in this direction, it is again swungrapidly to the left upon the spudN along the are 4. Thus it will be seenthat the rock is out along the arcs i, 3, 5, &c., of concentric circlesof which the spud N is the center, and that theboat when returning toitscutting position swings along the. parallel arcs 2, t, 6, &c., ofconcentric circles, of which the spud N is the center. It will also beseen that when the boat moves back and forth, the free spud when letdown occupiesa position in the rear of the working spud. Thus the boat,is grad-ually backed over thebed of therock which it is desired to out,the chisels cutting the rock in successive parallel strips equalinlength and width, sothat no patches of projecting rock are left.

It will be noted that by the arrangement of the, independentlyrotatable. spud drums and the independently rotatable anchor drums uponthesame shaft any numberof which may be operated at the same time,enables me to operate my boat with great economy of anchor toward whichthe boat is to be next swung, may be geared to the shaft at the sametime, the other drums being disengaged from the shaft. When the shaft isnow rotated the spud which is to be lifted is drawn up, and the anchordrum geared to the shaft at the same time pulls in on the anchor. Thusthe rotation of the shaft accomplishes at the same movement thewithdrawal of a spud and the pulling in on an anchor. It will also beseen that the arrangement of the anchor drums on the same shaft enablesme to easily adjust the boat to the required position by pulling in onboth anchors at the same time, or either alone,and withdrawingsimultaneously either or both of the spuds.

Numerous changes, which will suggest themselves to one skilled in theart, may be made in the various features of my invention and theirarrangement as herein set forth, without departing from the spirit ofthe invention. Moreover, various features of the invention are notnecessarily restricted to their use on a sub-aqueous rock -breaker. Forinstance, the permanent connection between the chisel and its cable maybe employed between any pounding Weight, such as a pile driver, and itscable. Again, one or any convenient number of chiscls may be workedsimultaneously by suitably arranged mechanism.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of a boat, a winding drum and a derrick carried bythe boat, and a pounding weight permanently connected to the drum bymeans of a cable, the cable and weight being connected together throughthe intermediation of a cushion connection, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a boat, a spud carried by the boat, a drum shaftmounted on the boat and carrying a rotatable hoisting drum connected tothe spudfla second independently rotatable drum carried by said shaft,an anchor connected to said second drum, said drums being adapted to beindependently connected to the drum shaft, and

tially as set forth.

3. A rock-breaking chisel having a wedgeshaped end and made of iron, andprovided with a flat core of steel welded into the iron and, extendinglaterally through the chisel and upward from the edge of the wedge,substantially as set forth.

4:- The combination of a pounding weight, and a cable permanentlyattached to the weight through the intermediation of acush ionedconnection, substantially asset forth.

5. The combination of a pounding weight provided with a slot, a boltpassing through the slot and engaging therein a link, a linkringengaging the upper end of the link, a bolster passing through the linkand resting upon the weight and beneath the link-ring, and a cablepermanently connected to the link-ring, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a pounding Weight mechanism for driving the shaft,substanprovided with a slot, a counter-sunk sealed I bolt passingthrough the slot threading a thimble in the slot and engaging a linktherein, a-link-ring engaging the upper endof the link, a wooden bolsterpassing through the link and resting upon the Weightand beneath thelink-ring, and a cable permanently connected to the link-ring,substantially as set forth.

7. An iron tubular spud-well provided with a longitudinal gutter andwith an aperture inthe gutter, and carrying a pulley arranged in linewith said aperture, substantially as set forth.

8. A spud comprising a long iron body portion tubular throughout itslength and an iron shoe having a circumferential shoulder, the tubularbody overlapping the shoe and resting upon the shoulder, substantiallyas set forth.

9. A spud comprising a long iron body portion tubular throughout itslength and an iron shoe carrying an eyebolt and having a cir-.cumferential shoulder, the tubular body overlapping the shoe and restingupon the shoulder, and a chain attached to the eyebolt, substantially asset forth.

P. SANFORD ROSS. Witnesses:

- ROBERT STEWART,

WM. L. Ross.

